As every year, we were waiting for the announcement of the Cannes official selection with some excitement. Even if Wallimage is an economic fund, the presence of feature films co-financed in Wallonia in this beautiful festival is always a great moment and a great reward for the work of all the teams who contributed to its realization.
This year, Cannes celebrates its 72nd edition … but also the 20th anniversary of the Palme d’Or awarded to Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne for Rosetta. Emilie Dequenne also get a prize as best female actress. Since Rosetta, all the brothers’ films have participated in the Festival.
In 2002, Olivier Gourmet get a prize for best male interpretation in The Son. In 2005, The Child won a second historic Palme d’Or, while in 2008 Lorna’s Silence won the script award, and in 2011, The Kid with a Bike was awarded the Grand Prix du Festival.
Since then, the brothers have not been rewarded in Cannes: Two days and one night (2014), long quoted among the favorites, and The Unknown Girl (2016) left untouched.
2019 will be a crucial year for Jean-Pierre and Luc who return (unsurprisingly) on the steps of the Palace with The Young Ahmed which represents a formal return to the sources of their cinema on a hot topic.
Twenty years later, can the Brothers make history and become the first directors to win a third Palme d’Or?
Nothing at this stage obviously allows us to risk such a prognosis, but all we know about the film authorizes us to be very optimistic. It would be a tremondous confirmation that Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne revolutionized world cinema at the end of the last century, inspired dozens of major artists of contemporary cinema and will remain forever recognized as adulated icons of the 7th art.
For Wallimage, it is also a kind of apotheosis because the Walloon fund was created in the wake of the triumph of Rosetta. Since 2011, Wallimage co-financed every movie of the duo with enthusiasm because The Dardenne Brothers have always remained faithful to their region of origin, their technical staffs and their social concerns. A rare example of authenticity and absolute loyalty that is a pride for Wallonia !
(The photo that illustrates this article is signed Christine Plenus)
